James Maxton

James Maxton (22 June 1885-23 July 1946) was the Labour Party (Independent Labor Party from 1932) MP for Glasgow Bridgeton from 15 November 1922 to 23 July 1946, succeeding Alexander MacCallum Scott and preceding James Carmichael. Maxton was the leader of the ILP, which split from the Labour Party in 1922.

Biography
James Maxton was born in Pollokshaws, Glasgow, Scotland on 22 June 1885, and he was educated at Hutcheson's Grammar School and the university. He was a member of the Conservative Party club there, but joined the Independent Labor Party in 1904, having heard Philip Snowden speak. He was a teacher before World War I, but was imprisoned for a year in 1916, having called for a strike to protest about the treatment of a group of engineers. He was elected as Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton in 1922, and became chairman of the Independent Labor Party in 1926. He broke with the Labour Party in 1932, believing that it had betrayed socialism, although he remained an MP until his death. He consistently advocated "direct action", and was a committed pacifist. He was popular and respected on all sides of the House of Commons, and he died in 1946.